


63. a half-shadow

by piggy09



Series: The Sestre Daily Drabble Project [190]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-15 02:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9215555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piggy09/pseuds/piggy09
Summary: “There’s a cat in your kitchen," Helena says.





	

Helena and the cat have been watching each other for a few minutes, seated in opposite chairs at the kitchen table. Helena still hasn’t seen the cat blink. It’s purring, at least – that seems like a good thing. Even if it hasn’t moved or stopped staring, wide-eyed, in her direction.

“How did you get inside, _koshenya_?” she coos at it, wiggling her fingers across the table. The cat stares flatly at her, then with a pointed air of disdain begins washing itself.

“Jesus _Christ!_ ” says a voice that isn’t Helena’s. Helena turns around and sees Sarah standing in the doorway, eyes so wide Helena can see the whites of them all the way around. “Helena, you have to – let me _know_ when you’re coming by, yeah? You can’t just sneak up on me like that, you’re gonna give me a bloody heart attack.”

“You got a cat,” Helena says, ignoring this speech.

The cat begins purring louder, like it knows it’s the subject of discussion. It’s a very pretty cat: skinny as a coat hanger and a deep dark black. Its eyes are a nice green-gold. A good cat.

“I didn’t get a cat,” Sarah says.

“There’s a cat in your kitchen. Also it has a bowl of food, over there.”

“I’m – _taking care of the cat_ ,” Sarah says. “But it’s _not_ my bloody cat.”

Helena drops out of her chair to the ground, crawls her way over to the cat. She puts her face near its face. It deigns to sniff her nose before it goes back to grooming. “Did you name it?” she says.

“No, I didn’t, on account of it’s not my cat.” Sarah manages about three seconds of Helena staring at her blankly before she caves. “I found it outside, it starving, I’m feedin’ it for the next few days until I can find someone else to keep it. Happy now, meathead?”

“Do not call me this,” Helena says absentmindedly, slowly bringing her hand close enough to scratch behind the cat’s ears. It is very, very good. The cat purrs even louder, somehow, in total agreement. “I think you should name it Shadow. Because it is like a little shadow for you.”

“I’m not keeping the cat, Helena,” Sarah says, going over to the fridge and pulling out a beer. Helena has started scratching under the cat’s chin, which is almost even _better_ than scratching behind its ears. She likes this cat. She’s glad that Sarah is going to keep it – Sarah is _saying_ that she won’t, but Helena knows. Sarah wouldn’t have fed it if she hadn’t wanted to keep it. Sarah doesn’t know that, but Helena knows it for the both of them.

“Okay,” Helena says peaceably. “Did you scratch under its chin? Very soft. Much pettings.”

“Might have – rabies or somethin’, I dunno,” Sarah says. Helena looks away from the cat and raises skeptical eyebrows at Sarah, who sighs and looks away ashamedly. “I’m not gonna – I didn’t pet the bloody cat, it’s not _staying_ here.”

“Okay,” Helena says again, watching the cat nuzzle its pleased hand into her palm. “Okay, Sarah. No cat. I am seeing.”

“No cat,” Sarah says, nodding to herself a little bit. She leans against the counter, folds her arms over her chest. “Sure is purrin’, isn’t it?”

“Mhm,” Helena says. “Soft, also.” She starts looking with fierce concentration at the cat, pretending she can’t hear the sound of Sarah’s footsteps slowly making their way across the kitchen. Sarah crouches down next to her. The cat is melting into Helena’s hand on its chin, purring enough to shake the ceiling down.

“It’s a nice cat,” Sarah says, scratching tentatively behind its ears.

“I know,” Helena says. The cat keeps purring, pleased.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please kudos + comment if you enjoyed! :)


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